Surveillance
by Nyx6
Summary: My one and only dabble into the world of ATF: The boys, sitting in a van, keeping watch. Sound boring? Not when it's our fellas! It's only short, go on, make my day, review!
1. 8 o'clock Mud

**8.00am**

The doors of the surveillance van clattered open, and the vehicle bobbed up and down as someone stepped in.

Three faces turned to greet the newcomer.

"Nice of you to finally -," Nathan's sarcastic reprimand stopped short as the medic took in the Southerner with a degree of surprise.

Barks of laughter and surprise told him the others had also spotted the undercover agent's startling appearance.

Ezra's usually pristine suit was caked from head to toe in mud, smeared across the sleeves and down the legs, dry, caked and flaking.

JD's snort of laughter turned into a dry cough as Ezra's murderous gaze settled on the youngster. Beside him, Buck was grinning widely,

"Been eating mud pies again for breakfast Ez?" he asked, his grin widening. Ezra paused by the doors at the back of the van, where he had been carefully peeling off his muddy jacket as though it were laden with dynamite. He avoided eye contact as he replied, busying himself with trying to brush as much of the dried mud off the garment as possible.

"No, Mr. Wilmington, I have not indulged in that particular culinary delight. My current state is the result of leaping to the aid of a damsel stranded as a result of an unfortunate vehicular breakdown."

He stopped grandly, only to be met by further smirks.

Buck cleared his throat and gazed at his colleague innocently, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Broken down in the middle of a ploughed field was she?"

Ezra glared at him and elected not to answer. In the following silence, JD decided to get in on the act,

"Well, I think it suits you Ezra…I bet you'll have a whole herd of cattle after ya," he grinned proudly.

Ezra sighed deeply and threw his eyes to the heavens.

"Well if this is the reaction I get for leaping to the defence of a young lady then I rather wish I hadn't bothered.

Silence reigned for a second, and Ezra blinked at the quiet, surprised the men hadn't taken the ribbing any further. He took a seat, grateful for the reprieve.

Suddenly, Nathan cleared his throat and turned to gaze out of the front window once more.

"Who knows Ezra? Maybe if you'd done less leaping you wouldn't be covered in mud in the first place."

Ezra threw his hands to the air and snatched up his coffee.

Roll on the changeover.

000

Me again, I wrote this before Christmas but forgot about it! So anyway, there's the first chapter. All you old west fanatics don't worry, this is just a brief dabble in the ATF world…I'm an old west girl myself! Now, I don't know who she is, but all these ATF fics thank someone called Mog, so I will too! Ta very much! Am very bored so am off to check and post the rest of the chapters…toodles…


	2. 10 o'clock Hair

**10.00am**

"Still nothing." Nathan stated unnecessarily. They had all been looking out of the same window for four hours. All seeing nothing.

All of them that was, except Ezra, who was sat by one of the monitors in the back, arms folded, one leg balanced on the other knee, eyes fixed on the screen in silence.

Buck sat back with a sigh.

"Aw come on Ez, we was just messin', you look fine. Really." Buck's empathy was shattered by an ill-restrained chuckle, and Ezra rolled his eyes.

Buck tried again,

"Come on Ez!" he looked around for inspiration, finally hitting on something, "Here, this'll cheer you up,"

Ezra rolled his head to the side to take in the ladies man, one eyebrow raised, almost challenging his teammate to do something to make him laugh.

He watched curiously as Buck reached over to JD. The boy had been wearing a baseball cap for the entire morning, something which Ezra had noticed and wondered about, but failed to ask.

In one swift movement, Buck snatched the cap from JD's head and held it away, a growing smile spreading across his face.

JD reacted wildly.

"What the – BUCK! You promised you wouldn't!" JD battled wildly for his hat, but it was too late, Nathan and Ezra had seen it. It. The hair! The black waves, looking almost…crimped.

Ezra, who had been taking a sip of his sixth coffee choked loudly at the sight as the bubble of laughter interfered with his mouthful of coffee,

"Good Lord," he spluttered, suddenly beaming.

Nathan sat quietly, trying to hide his own amusement. Buck let the hat drop slightly, and JD snatched it back, though he let it rest in his lap rather than shoving it on again.

"Yeah? So I got a bad haircut. So what?" he muttered, trying to sound threatening, but failing. Ezra was still laughing. JD shot him a death glare, "Since when'd you cheer up?" he snapped.

Ezra grinned back at him,

"Since you Mr. Dunne, starting employing the services of a blind barber!"

Buck hooted loudly, and Nathan turned his head away so JD wouldn't see.

The sound of the van doors opening provided welcome relief, and Nathan stood as soon as he heard the handle turning.

"That's me up then," he crowed, grabbing up his jacket.

He was out like a flash, throwing a nod towards Vin who watched the medic whiz past at super sonic speed. The Texan turned his head towards the others, looking cautious.

"What have you boys been up to?" he paused, and as Ezra and Buck continued to laugh, voiced a more prominent thought, "What happened to your hair JD?"


	3. 12 o'clock Rain

**12.00pm**

The rain was pelting down against the windscreen so heavily that the four men had turned to the monitors in order to get a sense of what was going on outside. Which, as it turned out. Was still nothing.

Buck sat back and looked at his watch before stretching, and giving a long yawn.

"You know," he pointed out thoughtfully, "For an international arms dealer, he appears to spend very little time doing anything."

Ezra sighed and spun his empty coffee cup on the desk. JD was pushed back in his chair, eyes closed, arms folded across his chest. Vin took off the headphones and set them down on the desk, rubbing at his eyes with a weary hand.

"Chris is gonna be pissed when we tell him we sat here all day and didn't see a thing." Buck continued, drumming his fingers on his chest.

Ezra turned to look at his associate,

"The day is still young Buck. Hope is not lost."

Vin smirked at the optimistic Southerner and shook his head,

"Buck's right," he surmised with a grin, "Chris'll be pissed."

Ezra sighed. Beside them, JD woke, and looked about the van bleary eyed. He peered at Vin,

"Anything?" there was a note of hope in his voice. Vin shook his head,

"Not yet."

The youngest member's shoulders drooped.

"Chris'll be pissed," Buck added helpfully.

JD sat up and sighed, "Yeah."

Ezra threw his eyes skywards silently but said nothing.

Silence settled over the van.

Ezra peered out of the front windscreen at the rain and sighed deeply.

"Tears of the Gods," he muttered. Everyone turned to look at him,

"Huh?" JD phrased for them all.

Ezra nodded at the window, "The rain Mr. Dunne. Tears of the Gods,"

JD grinned, "Oh yeah, why're they crying?"

Ezra smirked, unable to help himself, "Maybe they've seen your haircut."

To everyone's surprise, JD didn't rise to the bait.

"Or else your dry-cleaning bill."

Ezra's smile faltered, and he sighed and checked his watch.


	4. 2 o'clock Cookies

**2.00pm**

"What was that?" asked Ezra, startled from a light sleep by a faint tapping.

Josiah, seated by the window, let the binoculars drop from his eyes and turned to him,

"Sounded like the doors."

Vin was peering too, and nodded towards Ezra to open them up and take a look.

Ezra sighed and stood, wrestling briefly with the stiff handle. He opened the door slowly, and poked his head out, ready to react if the person outside was hostile or unwelcome.

He blinked.

Before him was an elderly woman swathed in purple knitwear, shakily holding out a tray and three steaming cups of coffee.

"Evening dear," she beamed up at him.

He blinked at her again.

"Err…good evening madam."

She offered the tray up,

"I thought you and your colleagues might want these."

Again, at a loss at what else to do, Ezra blinked.

"Myself and my colleagues?" he asked carefully.

The woman nodded,

"Mmmm. You've been out here all day chopping and changing around in this little van. Thought you all might like some refreshments."

The door opened wider, and Josiah and Vin appeared behind Ezra, both looking as surprised as the Southerner.

Without a word the woman handed the tray up to Josiah, and, stunned, he took it.

"Err…thank you."

She smiled,

"Anything to help if it's going to take down that dreadfully rude man Jarvis, such a disappointment to the neighbourhood," she turned and pointed across the road, "I'm Mrs. Merrin, I'm just across the road there…do you boys want any biscuits?"

They all stared at her, which she took to be a yes. Without a word, she turned and headed back off, muttering something about cookies.

Vin sighed and shook his head as Josiah peered at the coffee which smelt remarkably good.

"Chris'll be pissed."

For once, Ezra didn't disagree.


	5. 3 o'clock Chris

**3.00pm**

Chris was pissed. He tore into the van like a tornado, looking tired, worn and very riled.

"How the hell are we supposed to conduct secret surveillance, if every elderly woman in the neighbourhood knows who we are!" he turned to Ezra, his mood softening as confusion overtook, "What in the hell happened to you? Fight with a piece of turf?"

Ezra groaned and Chris turned back to the subject at hand,

"How did she know?"

Vin sighed,

"She saw us changing around. Been watching us." He admitted sheepishly. Chris threw his hands into the air,

"Perfect! A law enforcement agency conducting surveillance, under surveillance by an old woman!"

He sat down heavily,

"I did not need this today." He muttered, rubbing at his forehead with a hand.

Josiah decided to soften the blow,

"It's not all in the air. As far as we know, Jarvis hasn't seen us, he doesn't know about us. We're hidden from him, it's only a few houses along this street that can see us."

Chris grunted and threw his hand up,

"Fine. So what have you got on Jarvis?"

Silence.

Vin cleared his throat,

"Ah, well, we haven't actually seen him today…"

"What!"

Chris' anger levels built again. He stood up abruptly.

"That's it, this whole thing is over. We're pulling out, it's been a disaster from start to finish. We'll go in a different way because we're obviously not - ,"

"I don't know if you're interested…" Ezra began. Everyone turned to look at him, startled. Ezra had interrupted Chris mid-rant. Not good. Chris was thinking the same thing. He was about to explode when Ezra carried on calmly, "…But Jarvis has just returned,"

Everyone turned to the monitors. Sure enough, Jarvis was climbing out of a sleek black car. Everyone's spirits lifted. Chris was on it like a flash,

"Ok, everyone stay on it, Josiah, Vin, Ezra -,"

The Southerner interrupted again with a triumphant look at his watch.

"I'm afraid Mr. Larabee, my time here is up. I've been here since eight, and finally, I can be relieved."

Chris blinked at him,

"Who'll stay here?" he asked, almost cluelessly.

Ezra smiled and raised a tray of cookies to his boss, as Chris took them wordlessly he slipped on his jacket, and then turned to clap his boss on the shoulder.

"Enjoy Mr. Larabee. See you in the morning."

And, pulling his mud stained coat about him, he stepped out into the darkness.


End file.
